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I've had plans for a while now to sew a big drop cloth out of pretty oil cloth for the kids to do art projects on. Unfortunately, I have a lot of plans, and "make a cute drop cloth" is pretty far down on the list. So when I saw this vintage table cloth at the thrift store, I put it in my basket. But then I wondered, do I want a green background in every kids crafting picture? Is it kitschy cute or kitschy tacky? Does it look like astroturf? Is it just plain ugly? As I was mulling over these important questions in my mind, it occurred to me, what kind of person needs even their drop cloth to be perfect?!Then I bought the damn thing.

So this weekend when Fiona said she wanted to paint a picture of Elijah building his Lego Hogwarts Castle, instead of scrambling around spreading out newspaper and mumbling something about really needing to sew a drop cloth one of these days, I just got out my huge (kitschy/tacky/astroturfy?) green table cloth from the closet and laid it out. And you know what? No paint got on the floor and it actually looks kind of cute in the pictures.

And yes, I did just turn buying a drop cloth into a metaphor for my life, in case you were wondering.

Miranda Makes

Hello!

I'm Miranda. I'm an artist and homeschooling parent. I write here about a range of topics–health, art, culture, education–with a focus on family life. I live in rural Maryland with my husband and four children.